Asia

In recent years, South Korea has been addressing climate change, including through investments in hydrogen, the Green New Deal, and international pledges to cut emissions by 40 percent from 2018…

In recent years, North Korea has faced economic shocks from UN sanctions and the pandemic. As Dr. Jongkyu Lee (Senior Fellow at the Korea Development Institute) writes in his new…

Following a record number of North Korean missile launches, as well as tests by South Korea, assertions have been widely and uncritically made that Seoul is participating in an inter-Korean…

Although the Korean Peninsula has been divided for over 70 years, North and South have not been able to make lasting progress in terms of reconciliation. While there are multiple…

Although it is happening more rapidly in South Korea, an aging society is a common feature in post-industrial societies around the world. With the number of retirees growing and the…

In March, Seoul suffered from the worst air pollution on record. Enough that the South Korean government has officially designated the problem as a "social disaster." But what is causing…

Over the past few years, Korea and Koreans have experienced incredible political, social, and diplomatic shifts. It is hard keeping up with all these new developments as a Korea Watcher,…

Even before the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, foreign policy practitioners and observers were talking about the difficulties of sequencing international sanctions relief for North Korea…

Selection of Q2 US-Korea Partnerships   Date American Entity Korean Entity Project Location June 24 Exxon Mobil SK On MOU for Exxon Mobil to supply SK On with up to 100,000 tons of lithium for EV batteries. Arkansas June 20 Philly Shipyard Hanwha Purchase agreement for Hanwha to acquire ownership of Philly Shipyard for $100…

The number of defectors fleeing North Korea and resettling in South Korea remains at very low levels. The number had begun to decline before 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic led Pyongyang to enforce harsher border controls to prevent North Koreans (and others) from entering the country from abroad and potentially bringing the virus with them.…

Korea stands out for its long life expectancy of 83.6 years as of 2021, the second longest among the 38 countries that are members of the OECD. In addition, its avoidable mortality rate (premature death from preventable and treatable causes) was 142 per 100,000 persons, well below the OECD average. Expanded access to healthcare has…

The announcement of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” following the North Korea-Russia summit has raised alarm in South Korean domestic politics. A South Korean presidential official has stated that Seoul will reconsider its policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine while a left-leaning media outlet stated that the new partnership indicates the failure of the…